Chapter 47

What guys, only one reply??? I'm so disappointed!!! But thanks Ami! Anyways, I hope that at least you'll all reply to the next one!

Chapter 45:

Since it was already dark by the time they left the Taj Mahal, Raj decided it would be best to drive back to Delhi as soon as possible. After all, Naina had college in the morning and he had a flight in the early afternoon. However when he reached the highway, Raj frowned seeing the massive build up of traffic in front of them. With traffic like this, they would be lucky to reach Delhi before the morning. Asking one of the policeman who was trying to direct traffic, Raj found out that there had been an accident involving several trucks and cars, and that traffic was unlikely to be cleared for several hours at least.

"What do we do now?" he asked Naina, "We could always stay in Agra for the night, but you have class in the morning."

"Raj, I'm currently topping my class," Naina told him, "I don't think that skipping one morning is going to make that much difference. But what about your flight?"

"If we leave early tomorrow then we'll definitely make it back in time for my flight." Raj informed her, "It doesn't leave until 2pm."

"Then maybe we should try to find a hotel." Naina told him, "Otherwise we'll be sitting in the car all night waiting for this traffic to clear."

Turning the car around quickly, Raj headed back towards the city, noticing that many other people were doing the same thing. For the next hour, they searched for a hotel but every single place they went to was full. It was the high tourist season, and many people who had been heading back to Delhi had been stuck in the traffic jam and decided to stay as well.

Finally, deciding to try his luck, Raj stopped the car at a five star hotel, figuring that most people would probably prefer not to stay in such an expensive hotel if they had the choice so there might be some rooms empty.

As he went to walk towards the entrance to ask, Naina stopped him with a hand on his arm, "Raj, we can't afford to stay in a place like this." She whispered.

"Of course we can, Naina." He told her, "It's only for one night and I have enough money."

"But it's…"

"No buts, for the past few years I haven't had anybody to spend my money on, therefore I have quite a bit saved up. And besides," he took her hands as he said this, "I would much rather that you stay somewhere like this than in some very cheap hotel."

Naina tried to protest again but Raj held up a hand to silence her and led her towards the hotel foyer, holding her hand.

"I was wondering if you have any rooms free," he asked the person at the desk, "We got stuck in the traffic jam due to accident and need somewhere to stay for the night."

"You're very lucky, Sir." The clerk told him, "We have only one room left and that's because the occupant cancelled their reservation an hour ago."

Raj looked uncomfortable and was about to tell him that they would go somewhere else, when Naina suddenly spoke.

"We'll take it," she told the clerk, "Thank you very much."

Raj stared at her as if to say 'What are you doing?' But Naina just indicated that she would explain to him once they reached the room.

"We could've found another hotel with two rooms," Raj told her, once they were in the room and the door was closed "We didn't have to accept this one."

"Raj, it's okay," Naina reassured him, "We might have had to search all night for a hotel with two rooms available or we might not have found one at all. This will be fine for us."

Despite the confidence in her voice, Raj couldn't help but notice that she kept adjusting her dupatta nervously. He was very aware of the fact that they were alone together in a hotel room where nobody could disturb them, not friends or house mates or party guests. By the way Naina was avoiding meeting his gaze, he guessed that she must have realized this too.

Noticing that she was wrapping and unwrapping the edge of her dupatta around her fingers again and again, Raj gently took Naina's hand in his and made her sit down on the bed.

"Naina, just because we're alone together in a hotel room, it doesn't mean that anything actually has to happen." He reassured her. "We'll just go to sleep and then tomorrow morning we'll get up early and head back to Delhi. You don't need to be so nervous."

Naina nodded silently, still not looking up. She held on tightly on Raj's hand, and he had the feeling that she was trying to say something but failing. Naina sat like that for awhile, neither speaking nor moving, until finally she looked up to meet Raj's eyes. He was stunned by the expression in them, that along with a nervousness and a shyness there was also desire, desire which he knew was for him.

"But what if…" Naina tries to say it and fails, then tries again, "What if I don't mind if something happens?"

At her words, heat began to build up in Raj's body, suddenly the room was too warm and he felt an urge to loosen his shirt. He thought about his decision yesterday morning that they should wait until they'd had a chance to date properly, he thought about the fact that her parents still hadn't accepted him. And then he thought about how much he really, really wanted Naina, and for how long he'd wanted her.

"Naina," he breathed her name, "Naina, you don't know how much I…"

There was a battle going on inside him, as he tried to choose what was right and wrong in this situation. Raj was struggling with himself, struggling to control his own feelings and to deny what it was that he truly wanted. There were so many reasons why he shouldn't allow himself to do this, why he should wait, but with Naina sitting on the bed in front of him, he really didn't want to pay attention to any of them.

"I've told you before, Raj." She says, only slightly shyly, "You don't need to be so good all the time. We've waited for quite a long time already."

"Naina," he whispers, "Naina…" and he kisses her, long and sweetly, as she entwines her fingers with his and he moves even closer to her on the bed. When Naina's lips part beneath his, he deepens the kiss, holding her hands even tighter in his. Naina's head tilts back under the pressure of his lips, and he places one hand on her neck in order to support her head.

Breaking the kiss reluctantly, he cradles her face between both of his hands. "Naina, any time you're uncomfortable just tell me to stop and I'll stop straight away." He tells her sincerely. Naina nods and the trust in her eyes throws him off balance. In so many ways she is his anchor, his shore. He needs her for his life to make any sense at all.   

He has no words to tell her how much he loves her or how much she really means to him. All he can do is to try and show her, so he does. A little shyly, Naina removes her dupatta, placing it to the side. Then slowly, with slightly shaking fingers, she begins to undo the buttons on his shirt.

Raj can't think of any word to say except her name, so he whispers it again, his mouth next to her ear as she slips the shirt off his shoulders. Leaning forward, Naina bends to kiss him once on the neck, and Raj shivers, pulling her closer so that they're barely centimetres apart, bringing his arms to rest at the back of her waist. Naina clings to him, resting her head on his bare shoulder, her hands clutching the his back. She's still shivering slightly but he has no idea whether it's from cold, nervousness or desire, or some strange combination of all three.

Slowly he starts from her jaw, kissing down her neck and across one of her shoulders. He moves his hands so that they're under her kameez, lifting it slightly to expose her bare waist. Raj tilts Naina's head up, searching her eyes for permission before he lifts her top off her completely.

For a moment he is completely speechless, taking in the creamy curves of her body, the swell of her breasts underneath her bra. Raj notices that Naina is looking downwards as if embarrassed and he takes her face in his hands again.

"Naina, have I ever told you that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen?" Raj asks her.

"This is the third time." Naina tells him with a small smile, momentarily forgetting her nervousness.

Raj looks down at her, still with his hands cupped around her face. "We can stop right now." He tells her, "We don't need to do anything else tonight."

But Naina leans forward and kisses him, pressing herself to him so closely that Raj can feel in minute detail the softness of her skin against the tautness of his muscles. He knows that Naina isn't going to tell him to stop, and he can't help but be grateful. Because it's been difficult to resist her all these months and if he's honest, then there's nothing he wants more in the world right now than to take their relationship to the next step. He aches for her, he burns for her, he feels like he might burst into flames at any moment with the effort of controlling his desire.

Finally breaking the kiss, Naina pulls herself back slightly so that she can look into Raj's eyes. With an expression of incredible love on her face, she runs her fingers through his hair, and Raj inclines his head slightly, leaning into her touch.

"We don't need to stop." She tells him finally, her expression completely serious. "Now is exactly the right time."

Leaning back in to kiss her again, Raj can't help but completely agree.

**

Afterwards she lies in his arms with her head resting on his chest, their legs entangled and one of her arms around his waist. One of Raj's arms is around her shoulders, his hand rubbing her back in continuous circles.

"What about Rajasthan?" he asks her.

"For what?" Naina mumbles into his chest sleepily.

"For our honeymoon," Raj tells her, the thought had suddenly come into his head a few moments ago and he wanted to see how she felt about it. "We could go to Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur… Maybe even Pushkar and Jaisalmer if there's time."

Raj isn't sure, but he thinks he can feel her smiling where her face leans against his chest. "I know you'd like Rajasthan," he tells her, "But we can go somewhere else if you prefer."

Naina still hasn't raised her head, but Raj is now quite sure that she's giggling against his chest. Finally she looks up, locking eyes with him by the light of the one lamp they have on in the room.

"Raj, we haven't even gotten married yet and you're already planning the honeymoon." She tells him, "Don't you think that we should tackle the first part first?"

"If you like then we'll go and get married right now," Raj tells her sincerely, "I'm sure there must be a temple here somewhere, we can be officially husband and wife within an hour."

"No," Naina tells him, "I would prefer it if we could get married properly with all of our friends there." He notices that she doesn't mention family and wonders whether she's already given up on her parents.

"Naina, next time I get leave I'll come to your house." Raj promises her, "It's time, I don't think that we should wait any longer. I'll confess everything to your parents and ask them for your hand."

Naina nods, leaning her head back down against her chest again, even she thinks they've waited long enough. She sick of being scared of what her parents will think, she just wants to know once and for all. If they reject her then she's ready for that, but surely they can't stay angry forever.

"It will all be okay." She tells him, "Whatever happens, we'll face it together." Without meaning to, she tightens her grip around his waist. She's made her decision, she made it a long time ago. Now all that remains is to find out what the consequences are.

**

They leave early in the morning for the drive back to Delhi, spending it mainly in silence as each one is still absorbed in thoughts of the night before. Raj can't help but feel a little guilty about breaking his earlier promises, now all he wants to do is to marry Naina as soon as possible. The more time he spends apart from her, the more he realises how hard it is to live without her. They briefing stop in at the apartment so that Naina can change her clothes and grab her books and Raj can put on his uniform then Raj drives her to the college. Stepping out of the car, he walks Naina to the steps where she puts down the books and steps into his arms. Cradling her to him, Raj savours her warmth, knowing that it will be at least three months before he's able to feel it again.

"I'll find out when I'm eligible for leave next," he tells her, "And then we'll talk to your parents."

Naina nods silently, then reaches up to touch his face. "Be safe," she tells him, "Look after yourself." She doesn't trust herself to say anything else, so she just hugs him again, trying not to cry now that he's actually leaving.

Raj smoothes her hair gently, also trying to stop the tears in his eyes from flowing out. "I'll be back before you know it," he promises her, "Just keep concentrating on your studies and don't worry about anything."

He kisses her very briefly and then after one long last hug, walks back to the car where he stands watching her until she's walked to the top of the steps. Naina turns back to the wave and he returns the gesture before she enters the college and Raj drives to the airport.

**

Pooja has been dying all day to ask Naina where she was the night before and why she was so late to college that day, but they're never alone together for a moment until they leave college and return to the apartment. Neelu is already home, and both girls immediately corner her, intending to find out all the gossip.

"So Ms Ahluwalia, where were you last night?" Neelu asked her in a mock serious tone, "Come on and confess everything or I'll make sure that Alekh knows you didn't come home!"

Naina tries to stop herself blushing and glares at Neelu instead, pretending to be angry. "We went to Agra." She tells her, "Raj wanted to take me to see the Taj Mahal and it looks best at sunset."

"Oh does it?" Pooja asked, exchanging a knowing smile with Neelu, "So did you stay at the Taj Mahal for the entire night looking at the stars that you didn't come home?"

"We were going to come home," Naina tells them defensively, "But there was a huge accident on the Delhi-Agra highway and it was impossible to get back. So we were forced to stay in a hotel."

"Ohhhh, you were 'forced' to stay in a hotel?" Neelu asked teasingly.

"Stop it guys," Naina told them, now unable to stop herself from blushing.

Noticing the blush on Naina's face and the way she keeps trying to leave the kitchen where they've got her cornered, Neelu laughs. "Something happened didn't it?" she asks Naina, and then seeing the look of utter embarrassment on Naina's face she claps her hands in delight "Something definitely happened!"

Pooja looks partially shocked and partially pleased, "Naina, you didn't…"

Naina cuts her off before she can say anything else. "We've made a decision." She informs them. "Next time Raj gets leave, we'll be telling my parents the truth. Then we'll be getting married."

"Oh Naina, that's such good news!" Pooja exclaims and both of the girls hug her.

Despite their nosiness, Naina is glad she has them with her. She doesn't know what will happen but one thing is for certain.

She'll need the support of her friends in the days to come.